Modal Jazz

PURE MINOR SOUND (in Italian: detuned minor sound)

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modale

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The "PURE MINOR SOUND", called in Italian "scala relativa minore" (relative minor scale), is on the sixth degree of the lydian scale! Only on it.
The aeolian scale and its chord are on the third degree of the lydian scale.
The phrygian scale and its chord are on the seventh degree of the lydian scale.
As a consequence, both are NOT identified as the "pure minor sound".
If we combine D- with different scales, we are in tonal music! In modal music there exists: a chord, a scale, its scale. A scale, a chord, its chord.
Why is the "pure minor sound" a dorian sound? Because D-, as aeolian, is a terminal tonic station; it is the terminal element of the minor II-V-I, namely D-b5/G VII+5/C-.
D-, as phrygian, has a functional meaning that in tonal music is identified as a dominant. It is part of the minor II-V-I: A-b5/D VII+5/G-, in which it is the central element. It is clear that a D- that has functions of a tonic station or a dominant is not a "pure minor sound".
Regarding D- dorian, one could object that this is the first element of the major II-V-I: D-/GVII/C. Keep in mind that the first element of this sequence is actually not harmonically D- dorian; rather, the exact harmonic sequence is F/GVII/C, i.e., subdominant, dominant, tonic.
From all this it follows that D dorian, having no particular "finalistically oriented" harmonic function, is the "PURE MINOR SOUND".
All of this applies to the use of modal scales in Tonal Harmony.
In Modal Harmony, there are no dominants, subdominants....II-V-I.....tonic station......
Each mode represents an autonomous entity.....Pure dorian sound....pure locrian sound...etc..
Even the chord in the traditional tonal sense no longer exists; notes can be superimposed forming chordal units that have nothing to do with the traditional concept of a chord; instead, they must be seen as notes of a counterpoint that overlap at certain moments.

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Reply 3 by modale

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Bit, I realize the difficulty; reading this article is a bit like stepping directly onto the tenth step of a staircase. A topic is not a "modal harmony course"; I find it difficult to conduct a course using topics. However, something remains, and even that little bit is useful because it becomes a stimulus. At the very least, one understands that there exists a tonal minor sound, which belongs to those minor chord types that have a specific function in tonal harmony, and a detonalized minor sound, which belongs to those minor chord types that do not have a specific function in tonal harmony; therefore, due to their detonating function, they can be used to verticalize the tonal harmonic sequence and prevent tonal harmonic progressions from being cliché and too predictable.

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